harry reid had heavy nra backing the last few campaigns. is it really that surprising that they pulled it at this stage? >> yeah, to me personally, it really is. i would have thought after what we saw happen in connecticut that it -- that there would have been -- it would not have been as difficult. if you're sitting back and watching this and you look, for example, at the headline that you just showed us earlier with all of the pictures of those children that were literally slaughtered, most numbers of the american public have to be saying this is an absolute travesty. what is so difficult about this? why is it that there is a belief in our country that you need to have these type of weapons at home? quite clearly this person could not have slaughtered all the children if you didn't have an assault weapon. >> the politics are very tough, john. you have red state democrats in louisiana, arkansas, alaska, they don't want to touch an assault weapons ban with a ten foot pole. >> and i think it was a big part of the democratic strategy in '06 w